This is the assertion by founding president of Imani Africa, Franklin Cudjoe.

[contextly_sidebar id=”7oTEuHICPMR9SrQW8aIlD8oVYYUw9MH1″]According to him, the size of the country’s economy makes it possible for the country to have fewer ministers than it currently has to operate.

His comment comes on the back of recent ministerial appointments by President Nana Akufo-Addo, which brought to a total, 110 ministers, including deputies who will serve in his government.

“This country can do with about 30 ministers and that is set. I’ve been to Australia and the UK and their institutions and ministries that are being collapsed into desks for agency heads. That is a country that is vast like a continent in itself. I think 30 ministers can do for this country,” he told Richard Sky on Eyewitness News.

Mr. Cudjoe said he believes the deputy ministers named by the president for some ministries were unnecessary and if given the chance, he will prune the number to the region of 30 ministers.

He noted that, some developed countries including Australia and the UK had resorted to collapsing their many similar ministries into major single ministries.

Akufo-Addo is the first president in the 4th Republic to have over one hundred ministers serving in his government, and according to Franklin Cudjoe, that does not auger well for the country especially as the president, Nana Akufo-Addo, had assured Ghanaians of protecting the public purse and being prudent in spending.

He said the current situation will lead to redundancy.

“You would have thought that the words used by the president himself in the run-up to the 2016 elections that he will protect the public purse will be minded so that when I hear the minister for information saying the economy is a weak economy and so you need a strong army of people, well then you may as well add militia people,” he said.

He argued that although the president had the legal right to appoint as many ministers of his choice, he must not be seen to be over-exercising that right which will not ultimately inure to the benefit of Ghanaians.

“The second justification for this which tells me that we’ve completely lost the plot is this whole business that because the constitution allows it, there is an open-ended opportunity, in my description of prudence, that falls under legal plunder.  The fact that the law says that you can go and on does not mean that after you spoke about the very weak fundamentals of the economy you met, you should  plunder it this manner,” he said.

Reacting to calls from pro-government elements that Ghanaians should judge the president by the delivery of his government rather than his current appointments, Franklin Cudjoe said, “an output based governance is based on some serious policy. You take education for instance, the major deliverable is ‘Free SHS’, have you seen any major policy document guiding how this will be deployed?… Have you seen a policy called planting for food and jobs? To see that we have a minister of state for Agriculture at the presidency and at the same time we have two deputy ministers for Agriculture, what will they be doing?” he quizzed.

Meanwhile, the Minister for Information, Mustapha Hamid, said, the “weak nature of the economy, requires a competent army” of people to restore it and achieve the needed transformation.

According to him, “the [President] has been guided by the competencies and experiences of the people and the legal requirements for making such appointments.”

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By: Jonas Nyabor/citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post Ghana needs just 30 ministers – Franklin Cudjoe appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

They said the number of ministers named by President Akufo-Addo for his government was too high.

[contextly_sidebar id=”wsaf8AyuOT9OBHlDSxaQE6umeB7HVIx0″]The Minority leader, Haruna Iddrisu while contributing to a motion on the approval of some minister-nominees on Friday [February 10, 2017], said they were concerned about the implications of the size of the government on the public purse.

He said, “as we approve this, we would have been approving 36 ministers so far. That is unparalleled, that is unprecedented; it is the largest under the fourth republic. When we add the ten regional ministers, it will be 46. That will mean that it would have an effect on the public purse. We are concerned about it.”

Parliament on Thursday completed the vetting of ministers, with the vetting of the minister nominees for the Fisheries and Aquaculture and Information portfolios. 25 of the ministers vetted out of the

25 of the ministers vetted out of the 36, have already been sworn in, though one of the ministers, Otiko Djaba, Minister for Gender, Children and Social Protection, has been faced with a suit by Minority MPs over her approval in spite of not doing her one-year mandatory national service.

A section of the public have criticized the Akufo-Addo government over the seemingly large size of government after the President made announcements of new ministerial portfolios and offices, some of which, hitherto, never existed.

They expressed concerns that these new creations will mean more government spending in acquisition of resources for the new appointees and payment of salaries.

A five-member committee chaired by Prof. Dora Francisca Edu-Buandoh to review the conditions of service and emoluments for article 71 office holders including Presidents, Ministers and Members of Parliament, recently recommended the following monthly salaries for the various ministerial offices;

Cabinet Minister (MP) – GH¢16,423

Cabinet Minster (Non-MP) – GH¢ 16,195

Minister of State (MP) – GH¢ 15,967

Minister of State (Non-MP) – GH¢ 15,739

Regional Minister (MP) – GH¢ 15,967

Regional Minister (Non-MP) – GH¢15,511

Deputy Minster (MP) – GH¢ 14,826

Deputy Regional Minister (MP) – GH¢14,598

Deputy Minister (Non-MP) – GH¢ 14,369

Dep. Regional Minster (Non-MP) – GH¢ 142,142.

The recommendation was approved by Parliament to take effect  from January 2017.

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By: Jonas Nyabor/citifmonline.com/Ghana
Follow @jnyabor

The post Akufo-Addo’s ‘many ministers’ will affect public purse – Minority appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

According to him, Akufo-Addo’s appointments and the introduction of some new ministries are part of his plan to ensure positive change in Ghana.

[contextly_sidebar id=”YJGQ2ZxvVYdiN1x2fnGKCjuEO1JCNA3R”]Barely a week after assuming office as President, Akufo-Addo has come under criticism over some persons he has appointed to serve in key ministerial positions and also introducing some new ministries.

But speaking to Citi News, former President, John Kufuor said Ghanaians must be interested in the delivery of the promises made by the President and not his appointments.

He therefore charged critics of President Akufo-Addo to judge him by the quality of his work and not the number of his ministers.

‘I am very confident in his team. Look, the country has assigned him a job. We should give him the free hand to do the job for us. We didn’t vote for nothing. We voted because we expect him to give solutions to us. And he says this is the way I can do the work. And you sit on the sidelines and say I won’t allow you to use the method you can use to give us the solutions. Is that what we want…Let’s measure him by the way he works?’ he argued.

Nana Akufo-Addo realigned some ministries and created some new ones including the Ministry for Inner Cities and Zongo Development, Ministry for Planning, Ministry for Business Development among others which has received a lot of criticism especially from the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC).

But former President John Kufour believes the President must be given the free hand to fix his team.

He called on Ghanaians to measure Nana Addo’s performance instead of the number of his team “so let’s allow the President to fix his team and then let’s measure him by the way he delivers the results not the numbers.”

‘Akufo-Addo makes key appointments’

President Akufo-Addo has so far nominated 36 persons to fill various ministerial portfolios.

He had earlier named 12 people who will work at the Presidency as his administrative staff.

He is expected to name his regional ministers this week.

‘Parliament to vet Akufo-Addo’s ministerial nominees’

Parliament has constituted a 26-member Appointments Committee also known as Vetting Committee to vet the nominees for various ministerial portfolios from the President Akufo Addo.

The committee will be chaired by Joseph Osei-Owusu, MP for Bekwai and First Deputy Speaker of Parliament and Haruna Iddrisu, Minority Leader and MP for Tamale South as ranking member.

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By: Caleb Kudah/citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post Judge Nana Addo by his work, not appointments – Kufuor appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

Ahead of his official swearing-in on January 7, 2017, Nana Akufo-Addo is expected to present the list of his proposed ministers to the National Executive Committee (NEC) of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) for review.

A meeting between the President-elect and NEC on Thursday, December 15 to deliberate on the matter, ended without a decision being taken on which personalities will serve as ministers in the incoming government.

Akufo-Addo rather asked for more time to take the decision, according to Citi News’ Sammy Wiafe who monitored the meeting in Accra.

Another meeting has been scheduled between the President-elect and the NEC to bring closure on the matter.

Although the list is yet to be made, some persons have begun making suggestions and speculations on personalities to fill key positions in the Akufo-Addo led administration.

Member of Parliament-elect for La Dadekotopon, Vincent Odotei Sowah, and former Minister under the erstwhile John Kufour administration Alan Kyeremanteng, are among those tipped as likely ministerial appointees to serve in the new government.

Appoint experienced hands, not ‘babies with sharp teeth’ – Prof Adei

Already, a former rector of the Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration (GIMPA), Professor Stephen Adei, has advised President-elect, Nana Akufo-Addo, to appoint more experienced hands as ministers in his government rather than exuberant youth with no experience.

He argued that the country’s current economic challenges require more experienced persons to manage it.

He further added that the President-elect needs to look beyond members of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) to appoint ministers.

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By: Jonas Nyabor/citifmonline.com/Ghana
Follow @jnyabor

The post Give me more time to select ministers – Akufo Addo appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

He argued that the country’s current economic challenges require more experienced persons to manage it.

[contextly_sidebar id=”BqmmggTmfpx9QiYixGO48h9dzCsiOLbE”]Speaking on the Citi Breakfast Show on Thursday, Professor Adei said, “I think that there is plenty of room for youth in technical work, but much of the cabinet type of level requires a lot of wisdom. I wouldn’t expect too many young people there. I’m talking about those below 45. Many of them will not be in cabinet position, but they will be in very relevant technical positions. I expect one or two of them but at this stage of Ghana’s development, I don’t expect a lot of them. They should be there as the technical advisers and not the decision makers.”

“We saw these babies with sharp teeth and other things and they nearly ruined our country and destroyed our culture with impunity and disrespect,” he added.

‘Appoint ministers beyond NPP members’

Prof. Adei further called on the President-elect to look beyond members of the NPP in appointing his ministers.

He believes that there are competent persons outside the NPP who could effectively serve in government.

“For certain areas, you must go out. Not many of them, you need to get a top person. For instance, when we started the petroleum ministry, Armah Kofi-Buah and the rest what did he know about petroleum? You go to a Ghanaian who is at the top and knows how to manage things for the sake of Ghana.”

He said professionals in various fields should be appointed to serve in relevant offices in government without consideration of their political affiliation.

‘Akufo-Addo meets NPP NEC over appointments’

President-elect Nana Akufo-Addo is expected to present a list of proposed ministers to serve in his government to the New Patriotic Party’s National Executive Committee (NEC) today [Thursday].

The party will also in turn present some names to the President-elect for deliberations.

But ahead of this, some Ghanaians have begun speculating and suggesting names for some ministerial positions.

Member of Parliament-elect for La Dadekotopon, Vincent Odotei Sowah, and former Minister under the erstwhile John Kufour administration Alan Kyeremanteng, are among those tipped as likely ministerial appointees to serve in the new government.

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By: Jonas Nyabor/citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post Appoint experienced hands, not ‘babies with sharp teeth’ – Prof Adei appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.